Sunday, April 9, 2017

My Week in Review: 4/1/17-4/8/17

I had a fantastic reading week last week. Don't you love it when that happens? I found a new to me author in one of my favorite genre's (zombies - shhhh, I know) and I enjoyed the first book so much I immediately downloaded and read the second. So here they are:Hell on Earth by Tony Urban - 5 Stars*****

One week ago there were over 300 million people living in
the United States. Today there are less than 5000. After a man-made plague
decimates the population, cities burn and the government crumbles when the dead
come back to life as flesh-hungry zombies.

Wim, a 30-year-old farmer, purposely kept himself cut off
from other people, but when the undead arrive on his farm, intent on eating
him, he’s forced to venture out into the land around him and fight to save a
world on which he long ago turned his back.

Survivors from all walks of life - criminals and fry cooks,
teenagers and soldiers - battle to survive zombies and each other as mankind
races toward extinction.

Road of the Damned by Tony Urban - 5 Stars*****

In the weeks after a virus decimated humanity and left fewer
than 5,000 people alive in the U.S., a diverse group of survivors struggles to
stay alive. Farmer, Wim Wagner has abandoned the safety of his farm in hopes of
finding Ramey, the mysterious girl who flitted in and out of life in the midst
of the outbreak. But, Ramey is on the road searching for her father and trying
to locate the mysterious X on a map that promises safety.

Meanwhile, survivors like Jorge and Bundy find themselves
lost on the road, trying to locate other human beings and fighting off hordes
of zombies. Some rescue missions end in success, but others in tragedy.

Teenager, Mitch is trapped in a secret, underground bunker
along with his mother and thousands of the undead.

Mina has escaped the hospital after killing her father when
he turned into a zombie.

Grady desperately attempts to protect his autistic son after
the boy died and returned as one of the undead.

They're only a few of the men and women fighting survival in
a world where the dead have returned to life and overtaken the country. Will
they find each other on the road or are they destined to life and die alone?

Cunning Devil by Chris Underwood - 4 Stars****

In a town where the monsters don't always have claws,
someone has to look out for the little guy. That's where I come in.

They call me cunning man, conjurer, wizard, but mostly they
call me Ozzy. If a witch is throwing curses your way, or there's something
scary scratching at your window in the night, I've got just the charm for you.

So when a grieving father hired me to track down a stolen
family heirloom, I was happy to help. Trouble is, what started out as another
garden-variety stolen property job just ended in attempted murder. Mine.

They made a mistake, though, when they put a bullet in my
stomach and left me for the worms.

They didn't bury me deep enough.

Dead Spots by Melissa F Olson - 4 Stars****

Scarlett Bernard knows about personal space: step within ten
feet of her, and anything supernatural is instantly neutralized—vampires and
werewolves become human again, and witches can’t cast the slightest spell.
Scarlett uses her status as a null to cover up crime scenes for Los Angeles’s
three most powerful magical communities, helping them keep humanity, and the
LAPD, in the dark.

One night Scarlett gets caught at the scene of a grisly
murder by the all-too-human LAPD cop Jesse Cruz, who blackmails her into a
deal: he’ll keep quiet about the supernatural underworld if she helps him crack
the case. Their pact doesn’t sit well with Dashiell, the city’s chief vampire,
who fears his whole empire is at stake. And when the clues start to point to
Scarlett herself, it’ll take more than her unique powers to catch the real
killer and clear her name.

Chaos Rises by Pippa DaCosta - 4 Stars****

When the veil fell, any half-demons not strong enough to
withstand Chaos were torn apart. Some, like me and my brother, survived the
Fall. Most did not.

That's the good news. The bad news saw a whole other world
try and devour ours. Demons came in countless waves. Destroying. Killing. Many
people thought it was the end...

The Fall lasted a week.

Tens of thousands died.

Hell almost claimed our world as its own.

And then, from one day to the next, it was over. The veil
came back, stronger than ever. I'm not sure if anyone knows how it was put
right. But I do know it's been six months since the Fall, me and my brother are
on the run, and the leftover demons aren't the most dangerous things in LA.

Orlando—land of that famous mouse—is on day three hundred
sixty-two of my demon ban and life is… boring. Until a demon finds a way around
my magical blockade with a new demonic drug. Now humans are getting high and
disappearing while tweeners—magical beings that live in the land between On
High and Hell—are grinding on my last, violent nerve. When my son is infected
with the evil taint, I realize this demon has forgotten my rules: order,
secrecy, discretion, and don’t screw with me or my stuff.

But, as much as I want to deal with this alone, I can’t. I
have to face Samkiel—my fallen angel mate I lost to evil. On High has given him
back some of his angelic mojo and I need his purifying hand to cleanse human
souls, his help tracking down the local dealer, and him at my side when we
locate the dem determined to get his claws into the mouse’s house.

I lost Sam once and survived. The question now is whether I
can survive losing both of the men I love most? Or rather, will the world
survive?

Demon Hunt by A. Blythe - 4 Stars****

The hunt is on...

Former supernatural covert agent Alyse Winters is determined
to identify the party responsible for her handler's death. Unfortunately, local
problems continue to sidetrack her when humans start committing crimes while
under a spell and a link to her past shows up in need of help...or is it
revenge?

Obsidian Son by Shayne Silvers - 2 Stars**

A city that doesn’t believe in magic. Bloodthirsty
weredragons. Good thing this reckless playboy has superpowers…

It’s been said that monsters cry when a good man goes to
war. But they should run screaming like little school girls when that man is
secretly a wizard, and maybe not necessarily good…

Nate Temple’s all-consuming quest to avenge his parents is
temporarily put on hold when shape-shifting dragons invade St. Louis. And
perhaps cow-tipping the Minotaur for answers might not have been Nate’s
smartest opening move, because now every flavor of supernatural thug from our
childhood nightmares is gunning for him. Nate learns that the only way to save
his city from these creatures is to murder his best friend…

Nate’s choice will throw the world and his own conscience
into cataclysmic chaos: avenge his parents or become a murderer to save his
city. Because to do either, he’s going to have to show the world that magic is
very, very real, and that monsters are very, very hungry… To survive, he might
just need to take a page from the book, How to Win Friends and Influence
Monsters.

That's got my week covered - and speaking of covers, aren't those some great ones?